Mayor lends his support

December 7, 2012

With only 25 hours to go until his monthly radio show Thursday morning, Mayor Randy Quiring and local KSUM radio host Jeanette Hinz came up with a 25-hour/$25 challenge to raise money for the Salvation Army in Fairmont.

Using primarily Facebook to spread the word, more than $1,500 was donated in a single day.

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GOOD?CAUSE?— Fairmont Mayor Randy Quiring smiles as he accepts checks for a 25-hour/$25 challenge to raise money for the local Salvation Army.

"It just took off," said Quiring, who turned over pledges he had received to the Salvation Army during an on-site morning show on Thursday.

"Checks are still coming in," he said, after accepting a donation Thursday afternoon at his insurance office on Second Street in Fairmont. "And with Facebook, they're coming in from ... all over the world, literally. Checks are in the mail and people are still dropping them off here and at the Salvation Army. ... It's pretty cool. And it's all through Facebook and a few phone calls."

This is the season when the Salvation Army makes its biggest fund-raising push through its bell-ringing kettle drive, but with a shortage of local bell-ringers, Salvation Army Major Dale Hixenbaugh has been concerned. The money raised now typically helps support year-round services the Salvation Army Corp Community Center provides to people in need.

Next year, Quiring is thinking of taking the challenge to the next level, by encouraging mayors across the state to get involved and make a similar push in their communities.

"This has nothing to do with me," Quiring said. "This was just an idea put out on Facebook, and people love doing it."